Every year, my home town of Benalla holds a street art festival. For one amazing weekend every year, artists set up their paints, brushes, dropsheets and spray cans to create masterpieces on buildings and fences all over the town. In addition to the artwork, there is live music, food trucks, market stalls and guided walking tours.
The Wall to Wall festival weekend is one of my favourite weekends of the year. It’s so exciting to watch the artwork taking shape and trying to guess what each piece is going to be. Last Saturday I dressed up nice and comfy to take a long, lazy walk around the main street and soak up the artwork.
I am wearing:
- Captain Planet tee shirt
- Denim shorts from Target
- Converse All Star sneakers (thrifted)
- Apple headscarf (thrifted)
- Mistress D and Master Rick pins from Geeky and Kinky
I was particularly proud of my makeup. It had been so long since I’d worn a Tank Girl inspired ombre red lip so I revived that look for the day. It’s such a 90’s trend but one that I still enjoy wearing.
In addition to the street art, this year the Wall to Wall festival also features an art installation by Callum Preston called The Milk Bar. Mr Preston has build a milk bar inside the Benalla Art Gallery complete with a Telecom phone booth and Australia Post red post box out the front. It’s really quite incredible, as you walk inside through the plastic strip curtains you’re greeted by shelves and shelves of colourful products all lovingly hand-painted, a rack of magazines and a counter staffed by a very sweet woman with pink hair and a pinny. I had such fun reminiscing about all the lollies that I once loved which are no longer available (remember Snap n Crackle bars?) and lamenting the fact that Bubbalo Bill ice creams seemed so much bigger when I was a kid.
The Wall to Wall festival is even bigger in 2018 than in any other year. Best of all, the street art remains up for a full year so if you’re driving through Benalla you can stop off and take a gander. It’s well worth the trip if you like awesome artwork in unexpected places.
